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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (684246)	6/1/2005 3:42:08 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

U.N. fires first staffer in oil-for-food scandal Official accused of interfering in bidding processThe Associated Press Updated: 1:20 p.m. ET June 1, 2005UNITED NATIONS - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan fired a staffer for his role in the Iraq oil-for-food scandal, a spokesman said Wednesday, describing the first dismissal stemming from alleged corruption in the multibillion-dollar program. Joseph Stephanides, dismissed Tuesday, was the first U.N. official said to be fired in the wake of an independent probe into allegations of wrongdoing in the $64 billion program. The United Nations had accused Stephanides, head of the U.N. Security Council Affairs Division, of interfering in the competitive bidding process for an oil-for-food contract. Annan concluded that Stephanides had committed “serious misconduct,” U.N. associate spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “Mr. Stephanides was advised accordingly yesterday and was separated from service with immediate effect,” Dujarric said. The probe, led by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, had accused two other U.N. staff members of wrongdoing in the program, established to help ordinary Iraqis cope with sanctions imposed on Saddam Hussein’s government after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Under the program, Iraq was allowed to sell oil, provided the proceeds were used primarily to buy humanitarian goods, including food and medicine. U.N. action against former oil-for-food chief Benon Sevan has been suspended until Volcker’s probe finishes its work. Sevan was accused of a “grave conflict of interest” in soliciting oil deals from Iraq. Also, Dileep Nair, the now-retired chief of the U.N. watchdog agency, allegedly paid an employee with money from the program even though the staffer’s work was not directly tied to it. Annan sent a letter expressing disappointment but took no action. Stephanides, head of the U.N. Security Council Affairs Division, had been accused of tainting the competitive bidding process for a company to inspect humanitarian goods entering Iraq under the program. His contacts with an unnamed U.N. mission — which a U.N. committee acquiesced to for political reasons — led to Lloyd’s Register Inspection Ltd. winning the contract even though there was a lower bidder, it said. Reached by The Associated Press after the announcement was made, Stephanides rejected the charges and said he would file an appeal shortly. “I am very disappointed by this decision,” Stephanides said. “I look to the appeal process in the confident hope that justice will be made and I will be exonerated because I have committed no wrongdoing.” Stephanides, 59, had planned to retire in September, when he turns 60.

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (684246)	6/2/2005 12:11:07 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

US Intercepted Two NK Shipments WASHINGTON (Yonhap) _ The United States and its allies have intercepted two deliveries of materials useful in making nuclear and chemical weapons by North Korea, the State Department said Tuesday. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher made the disclosure in remarks to reporters, citing 11 successful efforts in the past nine months by the United States and its allies in an anti-proliferation campaign, called the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). `I have cited two cases involving North Korea. I’ve cited several cases involving countries of proliferation concern, including Iran,’’ Boucher said in a press briefing. ``In addition, we worked to impede the progress of North Korean weapons of mass destruction and missile programs, for example, bilateral cooperation with several governments prevented North Korea from receiving materials used in making chemical weapons and cooperation with another country blocked the transfer to North Korea of a material useful in its nuclear programs,’’ he said. The disclosure comes amid signs that the United States is toughening its stance toward North Korea which remains unmoved in its refusal to rejoin stalled six-nation talks on its nuclear weapons program. Two weeks ago, the United States halted recovery operations in North Korea of the remains of U.S. soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War and has since decided to temporarily deploy 15 F-117 stealth bombers in South Korea. U.S. President George W. Bush is scheduled to meet South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun at the White House on June 10 which officials of both sides say would focus on North Korea. U.S. officials have recently grown more impatient with the Asian communist country, with some openly warning that ``other options’’ should be considered. A likely U.S. choice is a referral of the issue to the U.S. Security Council for possible sanctions. The PSI, launched two years ago, brings together the U.S. and some 60 allies in a joint effort to intercept the transportation of equipment and materials that can be used to manufacture chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Also on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the PSI provided the ``framework’’ for interdicting centrifuge components bound for Libya and said it helped end the African state’s nuclear weapons program. ``PSI partners, working at times with others, have prevented Iran from procuring goods to support its missile and WMD (weapons of mass destruction) programs, including its nuclear program,’’ Rice said in a speech marking the second anniversary of the PSI. Bush said the PSI is playing a major role in helping to stop the trafficking of WMDs. ``We are working in common cause with like-minded states prepared to make maximum use of their laws and capabilities to deny rogue states, terrorists and black marketers access’’ to illegal weapons, Bush said in a statement. times.hankooki.com